Belt-buckle.



PATBNTBD MAR. 3, 1908.

o. R. 'RUsTf BELT BUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 24, 1907.

OTIS RUST, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

BELT-BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 3,1908.

Applieation'filed October 24. 1907. Serial No. 398.950.

This invention relates to buckles designed especially for gentlemensbelts, although the device is adapted for various purposes for whichbuckles generally are employed.

Among the several objects aimed at in the present invention are toprovide a buckle of the class speciied which shall be exceedinglyT easyof manipulation both in buckling and unbuckling, neat in appearance andcompact in structure, possessed of superior gripping qualities, andwhich will grip the. belt or strap at any point in. its length and yetwithout da er o cutting or marring its surface.

Thebuc e, moreover, b reason of its peculiar vconstruction is we adaptedfor belts of various thicknesses without change or adjustment.

The foregoing objects are attained by the mechanism herein described andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which 1 an inner face viewof the bue e-twiththe parts in grippin position; Fig. 2 isa verticallongitudlna sectional view of thebuckle having a belt secured thereto;Fig. 3 is a detail of the clamp as when subjected to excessive strain,and Fig. 4 is a detail perspective of the pivoted clamping member.

Similar parts are referred to throughout the description and indicatedon the drawin s by the same reference characters.

n the drawin s B indicates any suitable leather or fabric elt or strap,and to which my buckle is shown Vas applied. The body 10 of the bucklemay be of any desired design, and is provided with a cross barorabutment 11 and angularly disposed ears or standards 12, in or towhich thc pivoted member 18 of the clamp is journaled for rotation. Themember 13 is substantially semicylindrical -in cross sectional outline,or in other words is concavo-convex, with the concavity on the side nextto the belt when in clamping position. As thus formed and eccentricallymounted as shown, the clamping member consists of two fiat faced jaws,the jaw 14 being nearer the axis of rotation and constituting inconnection wi th the abutment 11 the effective clamping means underordinary strains, and in cooperation with the belt causes forcibleengagement of the jaw 15 with the belt under excessive strains. It willbe noted that the gripping effect is secured not only automatically butalso that the greater the .strain on the belt the more effective will bethe clamping means.

As an effective means to operate the eccentric clamping' member 13, Iprovide a l'oop or stirrup 16 of peculiar form, the same being rigidlysecured to the member 13 substantially centrally of its convexl side,and extending therefrom radially and thence curving so as to bring theouter portion thereof in a plane substantially parallel to the plane ofthe biting faces of the jaws 14 and 15. The buckle is secured to theJbelt by means of the stirrup 16 and a small metallic clip or clamp 17having a iiat body 18 and an eye 19 connected permanently to the saidstirrup, As a convenient and compact means for securing the end of thebelt to the clip 17 I employ a pivoted lever 20 having on one side ofthe axis one or mere tongues 21 and on the other side an inturned lip 22inclosing the extreme end of the belt through or into which the tongues21 enetrate. Should occasion-re quire the be t to be shortened, it isnecessary only to throw the lever 20 outwardly on its pivot to detachthe belt, when after cutting the same to the desired length and punchingsmall holes for the tongues the new end may readily be secured in place.

One of the several peculiar and novel advantages of this invention n isindicated in Fig. ple a movement of the clip end of the belt is requiredin order to release the clamp. No matter how tightly the belt and buck emay have been drawn a simple bodily movement of the clip 17 from theposition shown in full lines to that shown in dotted lines will swingthe member 13 on its axis to release the belt. The importance of thisfeature will be obvious when it is considered that with the belt securedtightly about the person of the wearer, it would be inexpedient if notimpossible to turn the buckle 1nside out or to swing the clip end of thebelt at an angle to the buckle body in order to effect a release of theclamp. The release of the clamp as set forth may be accomplished rlio 2wherein it is shown how slight and sim;

whether or not the free end of the belt projects beyond the buckle body10. If the said end does project sufhciently, however, the same may bedrawn u on if desired as another means to open the c amp.

Fig. 3 sets forth, on an enlarged scale, the relative positions of theclamp members when the belt is subjected to excessive strain. In thisadaptation of the device the jaw 14 coperating with the belt swings themember 13 so as to cause the jaw 15 to impinge for-h cibly against thebelt and then by virtue of the specic form of the effective face of thesaid jaw 15 and its eccentricity, together also with the fact of thecontinued engagement of the jaw 14 with the belt it is practicallyimpossible to cause the free end of the belt to slip through the buckle.However, a slight bodily movement of the clip 17 and end of the beltattached thereto will suffice to release the clamp member 13, thestirrup 16 rotating within the eye 19 and the member 13 rotating betweenthe ears 12 at such time.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is i e The combinationwith a belt, of a buckle therefor comprising a body having an abutment,a ivoted clamping member having spaced p ane faced gripping jaws tocoperate with the said abutment to clamp the belt, a curved stirruprigidly secured to the pivoted clamping member and extending outwardlytherefrom and thence in a direction substantially parallel to the planeof the gripping faces of said jaws, and means connected to the oppositeend of the belt and permanently secured to the said stirrup whereby theclamp may be set or released by a slight bodily movement of the saidccnnected end of 'the belt.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature l in presence of twowitnesses.

O'IIS R. RUST.

Witnesses Y. G. BUCKINGHAM, CLIFF C. CORRY.

